Movies like The Great Waltz (1972)
The best movies like The Great Waltz (1972) are The Glenn Miller Story (1954), Pure Country 2: The Gift (2010) and I Still Believe (2020). If The Great Waltz hooked you with its music and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBefore Sunrise (1995)8.0/10 from 4,968 votes
- NewestSong Sung Blue (2025)Released 2025
The Glenn Miller Story (1954)
A vibrant tribute to one of America's legendary bandleaders, charting Glenn Miller's rise from obscurity and poverty to fame and wealth in the early 1940s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPure Country 2: The Gift (2010)
Three angels bestow the gift of song to a young girl, who must follow a series of rules in order hold on to it during her rise to fame and fortune.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI Still Believe (2020)
The true-life story of Christian music star Jeremy Camp and his journey of love and loss that looks to prove there is always hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Great Ziegfeld (1936)
At the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, sideshow barker Florenz Ziegfeld turns the tables on his more-successful neighbor Billings, and also steals his girlfriend. This pattern repeats throughout their lives, as Ziegfeld makes and loses many fortunes putting on ever-bigger, more spectacular shows
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sound of Music (1965)
In the years before World War II, a tomboyish postulant at an Austrian abbey is hired as a governess in the home of a widowed naval captain with seven children and brings a new love of life and music into the home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSong Sung Blue (2025)
Based on a true story, two down-on-their-luck musicians form a joyous Neil Diamond tribute band, proving it's never too late to find love and follow your dreams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCenter Stage: Turn It Up (2008)
All self-taught dancer Kate Parker has ever wanted to do was perform with the American Academy of Ballet. But when she doesnt make it after auditioning, she learns that it takes more than precision and perfection to succeed in the dance world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHigh Strung (2016)
When a hip hop violinist busking in the New York subway encounters a classical dancer on scholarship at the Manhattan Conservatory of the Arts, sparks fly. With the help of a hip hop dance crew they must find a common ground while preparing for a competition that could change their lives forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHigh Strung Free Dance (2018)
Zander Raines, a dazzling and tempestuous young choreographer, gives the break of a lifetime to two hopeful artists when he casts a stunning contemporary dancer, Barlow, and innovative pianist, Charlie, in New York’s most-anticipated new Broadway show: Free Dance. But the move throws off the show’s delicate creative balance when Charlie falls hard for Barlow, while Zander embraces her as his muse.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSave the Last Dance (2001)
After the death of her mother, Sara moves to the South Side of Chicago to live with her father and gets transferred to a majority-black school. Her life takes a turn for the better when befriends Chenille and her brother Derek, who helps her with her dancing skills.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRuth & Boaz (2025)
A talented singer leaves the Atlanta music scene and starts over in small-town Tennessee, where she finds love and new purpose but can't escape the past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBreathe (2017)
Based on the true story of Robin, a handsome, brilliant and adventurous man whose life takes a dramatic turn when polio leaves him paralyzed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBefore Sunrise (1995)
An unexpected meeting on a train leads two travelers to spend an evening wandering through Vienna. As the night unfolds, they share stories and conversations about life and love, exploring new ideas while a quiet intimacy grows between them, knowing it may be their only night together.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993)
A collection of vignettes highlighting different aspects of the life, work, and character of the acclaimed Canadian classical pianist.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTÁR (2022)
As celebrated conductor Lydia Tár starts rehearsals for a career-defining symphony, the consequences of her past choices begin to echo in the present.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMayerling (1968)
Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria clashes with his father, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, over implementing progressive policies for their country. Rudolf soon feels he is a man born at the wrong time in a country that doesn't realize the need for social reform. The Prince of Wales, later to become Britain's King Edward VII, provides comic relief. Rudolf finds refuge from a loveless marriage with Princess Stéphanie by taking a mistress, Baroness Maria Vetsera. Their untimely demise at Mayerling, the imperial family's hunting lodge, is cloaked in mystery.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPurple Hearts (2022)
An aspiring musician agrees to a marriage of convenience with a soon-to-deploy Marine, but a tragedy soon turns their fake relationship all too real.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisKöln 75 (2025)
The true story of Vera Brandes, teenage patron saint of the 1970s Cologne music scene, who risked everything to organize the greatest solo concert in music history: Keith Jarrett’s legendary Köln Concert.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Tales of Hoffmann (1951)
A melancholy poet reflects on three women he loved and lost in the past: a mechanical performing doll, a Venetian courtesan, and the consumptive daughter of a celebrated composer.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both music & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thistick, tick... BOOM! (2021)
On the brink of turning 30, a promising theater composer navigates love, friendship and the pressure to create something great before time runs out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNo Songs of Love (2005)
As Tobias, a young director, supposes that his girl-friend Ellen had an affair with his brother Markus, front man of "Hansen", one year ago, he decides to shoot a documentary about the band's next tour. When Ellen joins the project, everybody's emotions boil over, although they are observed all the time.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both music & drama
Pandora's Box (1929)
The rise and inevitable fall of an amoral but naive young woman whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMeet Me in St. Louis (1944)
A year in the life of a turn-of-the-century middle class family, leading up to the opening of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCinderella Man (2005)
The true story of boxer Jim Braddock who, following his retirement in the 1930s, makes a surprise comeback in order to lift his family out of poverty.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTears of Cem Karaca (2024)
Against a backdrop of political unrest in Turkey, this biopic charts the life of Anatolian rock singer Cem Karaca, focusing on his revolutionary ideals. Heightened emotions and moments of threat reflect the country's rising tensions.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & music
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025)
Bruce Springsteen, a young musician on the cusp of global superstardom, struggles to reconcile the pressures of success with the ghosts of his past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & music
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInu-Oh (2022)
A cursed dancer and a blind musician — both ostracized by society — become business partners and inseparable friends as their larger-than-life concerts propel them to stardom in 14th century Japan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & music
Worth the HypeMovies like thisKrotoa (2017)
Krotoa, a feisty, bright, 11-year-old girl is removed from her close-knit Khoi tribe to serve Jan van Riebeeck, her uncle’s trading partner and the first Governor of the Cape Colony. She is brought into the first Fort established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652. There she grows into a visionary young woman who assimilates the Dutch language and culture so well that she rises to become an influential translator but ends up being rejected by her own people as she tries to bridge the gap between the two cultures about to collide.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
The Illusionist (2006)
With his eye on a lovely aristocrat, a gifted illusionist named Eisenheim uses his powers to win her away from her betrothed, a crown prince. But Eisenheim's scheme creates tumult within the monarchy and ignites the suspicion of a dogged inspector.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Three from the Filling Station (1930)
Willy, Kurt and Hans are broke, so they sell their car and open a filling station. Then, they all fall in love with the same girl.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Great Waltz?
The closest matches to The Great Waltz are The Glenn Miller Story (1954), Pure Country 2: The Gift (2010) and I Still Believe (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Great Waltz?
Start with The Glenn Miller Story (1954), the closest match to The Great Waltz.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Great Waltz?
Before Sunrise (1995), rated 8.0/10 by 4,968 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Great Waltz?
Song Sung Blue (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Great Waltz?
Yes: The Glenn Miller Story (1954), Pure Country 2: The Gift (2010) and I Still Believe (2020).
How are movies similar to The Great Waltz chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Great Waltz, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.